Belgium offers making COVID vaccination mandatory

The minister of tourism of the second most populous region of Belgium - Wallonia, Valerie de Bue, has proposed to discuss the introduction of mandatory vaccination against COVID in the kingdom, Report informs referring to RIA Novosti.

Over the past week, Belgium has seen a relative decline in COVID cases (minus 3 percent compared to last week), with mortality and hospitalization cases rising, according to the latest figures from the Sciensano national healthcare institute. In the kingdom, about 84 percent of the adult population is fully vaccinated. The highest vaccination rates were recorded in Flanders - almost 90 percent, the lowest - in Brussels – 62 percent. In Wallonia, about 79 percent of adults are fully vaccinated.

“Vaccination rates aren’t bad, but the question remains - have we managed to convince those who have not yet been vaccinated to get an injection? If we want to really defeat this virus, we need to start a discussion of mandatory vaccination... It is important to start a discussion now, this is not a quick process, but we need to confront a pandemic today,” the minister said on the air of the Belgian TV channel RTL.